London's Words festival brings writers, readers together

In the Webster Dictionary, that means the “continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition.”

Ricci is one of more than 40 authors, poets and other writers who will gather at Museum London Saturday and Sunday for the fifth annual Words: The Literary and Creative Arts Festival.

Ricci, a member of the Order of Canada and a two-time winner of the Governor General’s Award for fiction, will be joined by author Jane Urquhart, who has won the same award for fiction, for a reading and conversation hosted by Julianne Hazlewood of CBC London on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Ricci, a 59-year-old Leamington native, is also the inaugural Alice Munro Chair in Creativity at Western University where he also teaches a class in creative writing.

“You really have to want to do it, perseverance,” said Ricci, when asked to offer one word of advice for wanna-be writers.

“There are successful writers who started out badly and then do well. Perseverance is something you see in writers across the board. It really has to be something that you feel you must do and you do it. Write as much as you can and as often as you can and read as much as you can and as often as you can and persevere.”

Another piece of advice Ricci offers young writers is to not be afraid to “cannibalize” their own lives and experiences for their writing, “but don’t restrict yourself to it.”

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That kind of cannibalizing is at least part of what brought Ricci national and international acclaim for his first novel, Lives of the Saints, in 1990, the first in a trilogy that included In a Glass House (1993) and Where She Has Gone (1997) and explored the life of Italian immigrants in Ontario. Ricci is the son of Italian immigrants who settled in Ontario and farmed. The first book was adapted into a television movie starring Sophia Loren.

Of being asked to be Western’s first Alice Munro Chair of Creativity, Ricci said he was “humbled, really.”

“I’m very pleased to have it,” he said. “Alice Munro was a big influence on me, partly because she too came from a small town in Southwestern Ontario and showed that a writer from a small town could find success.”

The “beauty and intimacy” of Munro’s prose was also an influence, said Ricci.

Ricci said he’s looking forward to the Words festival, an event that is similar to others that has grown across the country over the last two decades.

“It’s a chance for writers to meet their readers,” he said. “Most of the time, we’re locked away in rooms working on our novels . . .

“And it’s a chance to meet other writers. I’ve formed friendships with other writers and these festivals are a chance to reconnect. It helps solidify those friendships and gives you a sense of what’s going on across the country. You meet new writers and discover new writers.”

Travelling to festivals and doing book tours have also given Ricci a chance “to get to know Canada much more intimately.”

Meeting readers and talking with them gives writers a deeper understanding of their work than reading a review, he added.

“It reminds me of what I should be doing, what really matters and what people respond to,” said Ricci, who also enjoys the format of a reading and conversation with a question-and-answer portion.

“I prefer that to straight readings. Readings are nice to get a taste of a book, but it’s also nice to hear authors talk about their work and their process and what they were trying to do or say.”

The festival features emerging and established London writers and some of Canada’s most celebrated authors, poets and journalists reading and talking about their work and leading workshops on a variety of topics.

Other familiar names attending the festival are Western University’s writer-in-residence Cherie Dimaline, London’s poet laureate Tom Cull and poet, performer and playwright Penn Kemp, whom Ricci met in Whitehorse at a similar festival in the early 1990s.

Kemp is part of the session called Poet Laureate Presents, River of Words on Saturday at 4 p.m. featuring writers and musicians. Kemp will be reading poems from River Revery (to be published next year by Insomniac Press), a collaboration with film artist Mary MacDonald’s Augmented Reality presentation (check it out online at riverrevery.ca.)

On Sunday, at 11 a.m., Kemp and poet and children’s writer Susan Musgrave will give readings and be in conversation with Western professor Allan Pero.

“I love these festivals, both as an outreach to the public and as a way for writers to see each other,” said Kemp, 74, who served as London’s inaugural poet laureate and a Western writer-in-residence as well as the League of Canadian Poets’ Spoken Word Artist in 2015.

“These festivals really bind Canada’s literary community together. But the best thing for me is it keeps me current in terms of what’s happening in the field, especially among the younger, new writers, but also the writers we’ve known for decades.”

Kemp said the “best” part of a Words festival is that it’s free (with the exception of Friday’s opening reception).

“These are among Canada’s most accomplished writers and I’d suggest it’s essential for young writers to attend,” said Kemp.

“You get to hear the poets (and writers) express their work, present it in keeping with their intention, so the voice and the written word match.”

IF YOU GO

What: Words: The Literary and Creative Arts Festival featuring more than 40 authors, poets and other writers from the region and across Canada, presented by Western University, Museum London and London Public Library.

When: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m-7 p.m.

Where: Museum London, 421 Ridout St. N.

Tickets: All events are free. Visit wordsfest.ca for a schedule and details.

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